Laugh at Bitcoin all you want, but Ohio business taxes can soon be paid in crypto

Ohio. The part of a title of that one Bowling for Soup song, home of Lake Erie and now the first state to start accepting crypto as a form of payment for taxes.

On Monday, December 3rd, businesses in Ohio will be able to pay their taxes in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

It seems like a rather easy process to enroll. Companies that want to join in on all of the history-making, crypto fun just have to go to OhioCrypto.com and then register to pay whatever taxes they want in crypto. There are 23 eligible business-related taxes and there is no transaction limit.

While there is no timeline set, there are hopes of expanding the program to individual tax payers.

Ohio’s state treasurer, Josh Mandel, is the man responsible for the state’s light speed propulsion into the finance future. The crypto program is just one step of many of the state’s bigger picture goal of rebranding itself as tech-friendly. Mandel is quoted as saying, “We’re doing this to provide Ohioans more options and ease in paying their taxes and also to project Ohio’s leadership in embracing blockchain technology.”

I had no clue Ohio residents were referred to as Ohioans, but onto the thought I’m sure looming in the back of everyone else’s mind:

What could go wrong with a crypto tax payment program?

For starters, the crypto market is currently the definition of a dumpster fire. Crypto has been in a nose dive for sometime now. Last November, Bitcoin prices capped off at about $8,000. This November, it isn’t even half of that.

Also, what is a stat going to do with a bunch of crypto currency. The treasurer’s office is not holding, mining or investing in crypto for payments or processing. Instead, the state will work with a cryptocurrency payment startup, BitPay to convert the bitcoin to dollars. But per the startup’s official blog, their open-source Bitcoin wallet Copay has been compromised by malicious code. BitPay says that their app was not vulnerable to the malicious code but that they are investigating whether or not any of the CoPay users had been exploited by the vulnerability.

Ignoring those slight holes in the plan, it is kind of cool that Ohio is the first state to make its foray into blockchain payments. They even have plan to expand into other cryptos in the future.

Never thought I’d say that Ohio would lead the way into the future but hey, it’s been a weird year, so why not.

The promises of blockchain have circulated throughout the Internet for several years and Facebook is now getting into the game. It’s not exactly a bleeding edge move, but could eventually be a move that impacts the business world.

Since blockchain is a secure system of handling two-party transactions, what does it mean for businesses if Facebook utilizes this tech for their own cryptocurrency? The company is currently seeking to raise $1 billion for this cryptocurrency endeavor.

Facebook has been researching and experimenting with digital currency tech for some time according to CB Insights. Should this interest continue, how long before we see the rise of FaceCoin? Additionally, what would this mean for the rest of us?

Since Facebook is one of the most used identity layers for nearly 2.5 billion users, its “single sign-in” system creates a universal access point for users to login to other sites.

Here are just several of the possible implementations if the company adopts blockchain cryptocurrency:

Mass implementation of what we’re guessing will be called FaceCoin will bring all users and anyone who interacts with a Facebook-related platform into this system.

The benefits are seamless transactions and cross-platform movement for businesses. However, this could rattle the digital payment industry across the globe as users have their Facebook identities tied to their FaceCoin wallets. L

ikewise, stablecoins will become easier to use with Facebook’s hat in the cryptocurrency ring. Mainstream popularity, anyone?

If FaceCoin is the future, e-commerce will get sucked in.

Businesses should be keeping a close eye on this development—US dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies are already growing rapidly, regardless. These projects bring new services and products to the global market.

If Facebook ends up in the crypto game, it’s likely many others will follow suit.

Calculator for what your freelance rate should be

The issue of what your freelance rate should be is daunting for most, but is especially stressful for those who aren’t particularly mathematically gifted. When every second on the clock counts and saving is imperative, where can you go to figure out your optimal rate? A new calculator has an answer.

What Is My Day Rate is a salary calculator which determines the hourly (and daily) amount you’d have to charge in order to meet your optimal salary.

The calculator itself is intuitive enough: upon landing on the What Is My Day Rate webpage, you simply enter your preferred annual income and wait for the results to load. You’ll see both a daily and an hourly sum appear shortly thereafter.

The process of figuring out how much to charge is simple, but that doesn’t mean the process is simple.

What Is My Day Rate draws from similar geographical, workplace, and demographic data to give you a number which reflects post-holiday, post-fee, post-non-billable work results.

By clicking the “See how we calculated this” link at the bottom of the page, you can see a specific breakdown of how What Is My Day Rate determined your rate.

You’ll notice that they take into account weekends, holidays, sick leave, bonuses, benefits, and more.

If division is a strong suit for you, you may also notice that What Is My Day Rate operates on a 40-hour workweek model, meaning your rate might even be optimistic for your standards.

One problem with the calculator is that it doesn’t account for taxes of any kind; while it factors in a rather generous benefits percentage and adds in things like mandatory vacation time and unpaid sick leave, there’s still a noticeable gap between the calculator’s projected expenses and what you would probably have to pay.

On the plus side, tax brackets change, so you’ll be able to plug the day rate results into a separate tax calculator without worrying about accuracy issues.

What Is My Day Rate is a valuable tool for any freelancer looking to establish their daily freelance rate without necessitating a spreadsheet and several hours of botched accounting—or a more expensive alternative. If you’re worried about undercharging, head over to their site to lock in your rate ASAP.

How to spot and avoid crowdfunding scams

When it comes to your personal life, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a crowdfunding campaign because if you’re turning to GoFundMe or YouCaring, it means your house has burned down, you have cancer or your dog has died.

We regularly see these campaigns pop up in our social feeds and for the most part, we believe them because they’re our friends, they’re in need and we trust them so, of course, we pitch in.

However, some people use crowdfunding to fleece you. By now, you’ve probably heard of the couple from New Jersey who teamed up with a homeless man to raise over $400,000. The campaign was a scam, the cash was split and now these crooks are facing some serious consequences in court. Ugh.

We shouldn’t need to write this article, but some people suck and they’re out there duping us. Here’s how to spot them.

This should be obvious, but do not give money to people you do not know or do not at least tangentially know. It never hurts to scroll through the donor list to see if you recognize any of your friends or acquaintances there. If you do and have questions, reach out to them before you reach deep into your wallet.

What about victims of natural disasters? Offer your money to emergency funds run by non-profit organizations. Anyone can create a crowdfunding campaign, but in times of crisis many platforms create verified campaigns.

If the objective of the campaign is unclear, do not donate. We’ve all come across campaigns that are strangely worded or lack enough specifics to piece together a plausible story. If it feels like a Nigerian Prince is the campaign administrator, close the tab.

If a campaign’s photo looks fishy, do a reverse image search on Google to help validate that fishy feeling. If the search yields a lot of results for the photo, scammers have stolen it and are using it to tug at your heartstrings.

Most campaigns run for a very short amount of time, typically a couple of weeks and rarely more than a month. While there is generally a final social push to get to an unmet goal, there are rarely open-ended campaigns. Again, if the goal is unclear or out-of-reach, move on.

We’ve all seen campaigns that are truly gut-wrenching – deaths of loved ones, fights with cancer, entire villages wiped out. As with the case of the three jerks from New Jersey, if it feels too good to be true, it probably is. While some sites may be able to reimburse your donation, others won’t and nothing feels worse than falling for a scam AND losing your money.

And so, dear friends, this is why we at The American Genius almost never, ever write about crowdfunded projects. We care about you and we want you to use your money to help your real friends, fund YOUR next project or pay off your student loans.